An endless belt conveyor driven by edge rollers is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,759,596. In the before-mentioned prior art patent, upper and lower edge rollers bear on the top and bottom of the carrying run of the endless belt and are positively driven at the same speed. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,133 an endless belt conveyor is disclosed having a path which includes rectilinear and curvilinear sections in a horizontal plane. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,763,993 and 3,773,167 show drives for long-distance conveyor belts wherein driving wheels frictionally engage the marginal drive edges of endless conveyor belts.